Resilient Chacachacare
Anjani Ganase looks at the world reflected on one of our country’s tiny western isles, Chacachacare The most westerly and possibly the farthest isle away from Tobago in the same country is Chacachacare. It lies in the Bocas, the body of water that separates the northwest peninsula of Trinidad from Venezuela. This island is a reflection of our human history from colonization, slavery, revolutions, agriculture, war and disease. Today, Chacachacare is visited by boaters and hikers who take the half hour trek west to the island to swim in calm sheltered bays and wander the overgrown roads that lead to the lighthouse in the north and to the famous salt pond in the south on paths that have been trod for hundreds of years. The records of Chacachacare date back to pre-Columbian times. Archeologists have discovered Amerindian presence in middens, piles of shells, pottery and food remains. In 1498, when Christopher Columbus rediscovered Trinidad and Tobago, his f...